Side closure for motor vehicles



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B. EDWARDS SIDE CLOSURE FOR MOTOR VEHICLES Filed Jan. 16, 1924 Ely ut Patented Feb. 9, 192%.

uni-rec STATES nnnnnAnnnnwnnps, or sanronn, FLORIDA.

SIDE CLOSURE FOR MOTOR VEHICLES.

Application filed. January 16, 1924.

To all whom it may concern:

1 Be known that I, BERNHARD Emvnnns, citizen of the United States, residing at Sanford, in the county of Seminole and State ofFlorida, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Side Closures for Motor Vehicles, of'which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved side closure for notor' vel'iicles" and seeks, amon other objects, to provide a closure embodying a pair of curtains which may be conveniently mounted upon the top frame of the vehicle in a position out of theway and which may be easily drawn. down and secured for excluding the weather.

The invention seeks, as a further object, to'pfrovide a closure comprising a front curtain which will also embody a front flap to be secured adjacent the windshield of the vehicle so thatwhen all of the curtains of the vehicle equipped with the invention are drawn down, the vehicle will be snugly enclosed.

And the invention seeks, as a still further object, to provide a closure which will be of simple construction, which will be well adapted for use upon different makes of vehicles, and which, when applied, will not prove unsightly.

4 Other and incidental objects will appear hereinafter,

In the drawings:

Figure l'is an elevation looking at the right hand side of a cmivcntional inotor vehicle and showing my improved closure ap- "Figure 2 is an enlarged transverse sectional view on the line 2 2 of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 3' is an enlarged transverse sectional view on the line of Figure '1, looking in the direction of the arrows,

Figure t is a detail elevation of the front curtain employed and showing the curtain unrolledl the casingfor the curtain bemgih lustrated in section,

liigiire 5 is'a detail sectional view on the line-3+5 of Figure" 1, looking-in the directicn'of the arrows, 1

, Figure 6 isa detail sectional view onthe line; 6&6 offFigure 1, looking in the direction ofthe'a rrows," J

Figure 7 "is a detail sectional view on the lineffT T of" Eigure 3, looking in the di ectn" ofthe arrows. and

n1ent with the bar.

Serial No. 638,852.

Figure 8 is a detail sectional view on the line 8 8 of Figure 2, looking in, the direc' out in Figure 2, this casingis open atits lower side and closing the casing at its forward end is a removable end plate 14. As best: shown in Figure 4 of the drawings, this end'plate is-provided with a flange 15 snugly. fitting in the casing and extending through the casing and through saidflange are bolts 16 securing the plate in position. Formed in the plate is, as clearly shown in Figure 2, a vertical slot 1'7. Atits rear end the casing is equipped with a permanent end plate 18 while, as best brought out in Figure 7, the rear end: portion of the casing is provided at one sidethereof with anotch 19 extending longitudinally of the casing from its adjacent extremity. Appropriately secured to the casing near its forward end is a bracket 20 whichis'eirtended laterally from the casing to define a loop 21 shaped, as particularly shown in Figure 2, to snug ly embrace the adjacent side niei'nber ofthe front how 12 and extending through the free end of the loop and through the bracket is a bolt 22 clamping the loop in than en- -gagenicnt withtlie bow. Appropriately secured to the casing near its rear end is a bracket 23 wnich is extended'laterally froin the casing to define a substantially Ushaped hook 22L snugly accommodating the adjacent side bar 11 of the top frame of the vehicle and extending through the bracket and through thefree' end of saidhook is a bolt 25 rigidly. clamping the bracket in engage Thus, thebrackets 29 and Z3 will'serve to firmly support the easing 13 to extend horizontally; within the vehicle top at the adjacent side of the vehicle and, as will be perceived, the casing may bereadily a-ppl-iei ll lounte'd"within the casinglBis a spring roller 26, the trunnions of which are acconimodated through the end plates 1 1 and 18 of the casing and secured to saidroller is a curtain 27 which, as brought out in Figure 1, is provided with appropriate windows 28. At its forward end, the curtain is provided with a front flap 29 extending throughout the major portion of'the length the curtain and this flapis also preferably equipped with an appropriate window 30. Mounted upon the curtain in spaced relation to the forward edge thereof is, as shown in Figure 1.,t-he stud 31 an appropriate snap fastener and mounted upon the upper outer corner of the flap is a socket to accoinmodate said stud. As shown, the stud 31 is so located that when the flap 39 is folded back over the curtain at its inner side, the socket maybe engaged with the stud 31 for securing the flap in folded position Furthermore, as also brought out in Figure 4;, the roller 26 is formed with a reduced forward end portion 33 to accommodate the double thickness presented by the curtain and flap so that the curtain with the folded flap will wind evenly upon the roller. Secured by a hem att-he lower edge of the cur tain is, as shown in Figure 5, a Hat resilient bottom strip 3% extending from end to end of the curtainbut terminating at the junction of the flap 29 with the curtain. This bottom strip is bowed longitudinally, being arranged with its concave face presented inwardly, and bolted or otherwise secured to the strip at a point medially thereof is, as shown in detail in Figure 6, a hand hook Engaged through the curtain and throuoh the upper end of said hook is the socket 36 of an appropriate snap fastener and secured by said socket is a thumb tab of.

The hook 35 1S providedfor raising or lowering the curtain from the exterior of the vehicle while the thumb tab37 1S providedfor raisingor, lowering the curtain from the interior of the vehicle and, as will now be seen, the curtain may be drawn down to overlap the vehicle body at its acent side. The vehicle body is, as shown in Figure 6, provided with a stud 38 to cooperate with the socket 36 so that'after the curtain has been drawn down it may be readily secured by engaging the socket over aid stud. Since the bottom strip 34: is bowed longitudinally, said strip will Contact at its ends with the side of the vehicle body and when the socket 36 is engaged with the stud 38, said strip will be flexed'longitudinally and held under tension to yieldably bear against the side of the vehicle bodyand preventflapping of the curtain- However, before bottoin'strip is secure, the flap 29' is, after -thecurtain has beendrawn down, released atthe stud and socket 31 and 32and'exten'ded forwardly from the curtain about-the ad- 'ja'cent end 'ofthe vehicle windshieldf and the mounted upon the front bow 12 of the frame of the vehicle top near the adjacent upper corner of the windshield is, as shown in detail in Figure 8, a stud 39 projecting rearwardly from the bow. As illustrated, the upper outer corner of the flap is folded outwardly upon itself to present the socket 32 to said stud when the socket is engaged over the stud for securing the flag at its upper end. Mounted upon the flap near its lower outer corner is an appropriateeyelet d0 accommodating a suitably located turn button 41 upon the vehicle for securing the flap at its lower end. Thus, the flap will be securely held to overlap the adjacent end of the windshield and attention is now directed to the fact that when the curtain 27 is fastened down, the upperniargi'n of the flap is accommodated through the slot 17 in the end plate 14 ofthe casing 13 so that the flap may extend at its. upper margin smoothly from the curtain and form a neat junction with the casingf Corning now more particularly to the rear curtain, I employ a cylindrical sheet metal casing llsiinilar to. the casing 13 of the front curtain. The casing 412 is open at its lower side andis equipped at its ends with end plates 43 cm of which is like the end plate 14: and is removable. Appropriately secured to the casing near its forward end is a bracket td eXten'ded downwardly at one side of the casing, as particularly shown in Figure 3,'to form a hook 4:5 accommodating the adjacent side bar 11 of the top frame of the vehicle, and inserted through the free end of the hook and through the bracket is a bolt 4-.6' clamping the bracket in firm engagement with the side bar. In this connection, it is to be observed that the bracket 44; is of a length to support the forward end of the casing 42 above the rear end of the casing 13 of the front curtain and the casing 42 is arranged to overlap or overhang the casing 13 a distance equal to the length of the notch 19 of the latter casin Appro priately secured'to the casing 42 at its rear end is, "as shown in Figure 1, a bracket 47 extended downwardly at the adjacent side of the casing and provided with openings to receive woos screws securing the bracket to the rear. how 10 of the top frame of the vehicle. The brackets 14 and 47 will thus serve-to rigidly sustain the casing 12 to extend horizontally withinthe vehicle top sub stantially in a plane with butslightly above the casing 13 and ournaled within the easl11g42/1S an appropriate shade roller 48. the

trunnions of which are accommodated in suitable openings in the end plates 13. Se-

cured to the roller Sris a curtain 49 which, as brought out in Figure 1, is provided with appropriate w1ndows-50 while the curtain is formed with an oblique rear edge to conform 'Q the inclination of the adjacent sideof the roar bow 10 of the top frame when the curtain is drawn down. Mounted upon the curtain near the rear edge thereof are eyelets 51 to accommodate the usual studs upon the said side of the rear bow for securing the curtain to said how and enclosed within a hem at the lower margin of the curtain is a longitudinallybowed flat resilient bottom strip 52 similar to the strip 34- of the front curtain. Secured to said strip is a hand hook 53 similar to the hook 35 and associated with said hook is a socket 54 like the socket 86 as well as a thumb tab like the thumb tab 37. At its adjacent side, the vehicle body is provided with a stud like the stud 38 to receive the socket 54: so that the curtain may. be readily fastened down when the bottom strip 52 of the curtain will, like the strip 3%, be tensioned against the side of the vehicle for holding the curtain against flapping. Since the casings 13 and 42 are overlapped at their meeting ends the curtains 27 and 49 are, when drawn down, correspondingly overlapped and for this reason, the casing 13 of the front curtain is provided with the notch 19 to accommodate, as shown in Figure 3, the forward margin of the rear curtain 49. A close oint will, therefore be formed between the overlapped portions of. the curtains 27 and 4-9 so that the use of fastening devices between the curtains will be unnecessary. However, the front curtain 27 is, of course, arranged at the outside of the rear curtain so that when the vehicle is moving forwardly, currents of air will notenter be tween the curtains. In the present instance, I have shown a right hand side closure.

However as will be at once understood. a

n c left hand side closure will of course be I 1 l 0 7 provided and mounted m like manner.

Having thus described the invention, what 'I claim as new is:

1. In a side closure for motor vehicles, a casing having end plates, a roller mounted upon said end plates to extend within the tend longitudinally (if-the top at one side 5-- thereof and overlapping at their confronting ends, rollers mounted in the casings, and curtains carried by said rollers and adapted to be drawn down closing the top at its adjacent side and overlapping at their con fronting margins, one of the casings being notched at one side thereof to accommodate the overlapping margin of the curtain of the other casing.

3. In a side closure for motor vehicles, a curtain roller, and a curtain carried by the roller and provided with a flap, the flap being adapted-to be folded back to overlie the curtain and the roller being provided with a reducedportion to accommodate the double thickness presented by the flap and curtain.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

BERNHARD EDWARDS. -1 

